Redemption From the Shadows
by love-ends-with-hope
Summary: Set after Anakin becomes Vader and before Padmé dies, Anakin saves Padmé's life.


Redemption from the Shadows  
  
*Anakin does not become Vader, he is brought back into the light by his love for Padme. Entirely not possible, but somewhat cute and original* I do not claim ownership over anything in this story, other than the idea. May not be completely accurate in some things. Please give it a chance.  
  
Anakin Skywalker walked quickly and quietly to the training room down the  
  
hall from his sleeping quarters. Glancing at the watch on his left hand, he realized  
  
he was already late for his daily training sessions with the Emperor, formerly  
  
Chancellor Palpatine. These sessions enabled Anakin to use his anger and hatred,  
  
feelings that are not supposed to be known to a Jedi, for better, and more  
  
destructive, purposes. On the opposite side of the same building, Padmé Skywalker  
  
lay quietly in her cell; where Anakin was a highly respected student of the Emperor,  
  
Padmé was his prisoner. The Emperor realized that Anakin would never commit acts  
  
of senseless destruction had he realized she was alive and not dead as the Emperor  
  
had told him she was. The Emperor had convinced Anakin that the Jedi, whom he  
  
had once loved and been a part of, had murdered his wife in retribution for what  
  
Anakin had done to the Republic. This caused Anakin immeasurable pain and  
  
suffering, for the loss of his love, yet another emotion meant to be foreign to the  
  
Jedi. The Emperor had immensely enjoyed torturing the former Queen-turned-  
  
Senator from Naboo; he blamed her for the slow progress in Anakin's training when  
  
it first began all those months ago. He took pleasure in not only torturing her  
  
physically, but also emotionally and mentally as well. He would read her mind, find  
  
her deepest darkest secrets and taunt her with them, he would show her images of  
  
what her Anakin had become, and convince her it had been all her fault. Eventually,  
  
she learned to produce a strong enough mind shield to prevent the Emperor from  
  
knowing what she was thinking, unfortunately, it also stopped Anakin from knowing  
  
what she was thinking and feeling. Denied his preferred method of torture, the  
  
Emperor began to invent stories for Padmé of all the horrible things Anakin had  
  
done, blaming them all on her. He was so adamant in all this that he convinced her it  
  
was all because of her that Anakin had fallen to the dark side; her love had turned  
  
him from the light forever. Over the next few months, Padmé was starved and  
  
tortured, by many different methods. The Emperor had begun to use a similar  
  
method of torture on Anakin, though less obviously; he would use his telekinetic  
  
abilities to transplant images of Padme suffering into his young apprentice's mind,  
  
most commonly in his sleep.  
  
Anakin continued his training, oblivious to the fact that his wife was in the  
  
very same building as him, he preferred to blame the Jedi, and take all his anger  
  
and vengeance out on them, but first he had to be properly trained.  
  
Anakin stepped into the room and bowed deeply before his Master.  
  
"My young apprentice, you are late." The Emperor spoke from behind the solid wood  
  
desk in the corner of the room.  
  
"I apologize, Master, I have not slept well in several days. It will not happen again."  
  
Anakin answered with another bow.  
  
"See that it doesn't," answered the Emperor, secretly pleased his torture was  
  
working so well.  
  
"Well, young apprentice," Anakin always enjoyed hearing the Emperor call him  
  
that. " Where should we start today?"  
  
" I believe we left off at closing off the mind to the suffering of others, Master."  
  
"Ah, yes of course, I remember now. One of the most important things in gaining  
  
power is to be able to ignore the suffering and pain of others. No matter who they  
  
may be, if it is not happening to you, it does not affect you. Always remember that."  
  
The Emperor had been dreading teaching Anakin this, as important as it was,  
  
because it would mean Padmé's suffering would have no affect on him at all. This,  
  
however, could not be helped, as the training was crucial to the young Sith.  
  
"To begin with, you must clear your mind of all things but yourself and power."  
  
The Emperor instructed, while searching his student's mind. Anakin knew this would  
  
be the most difficult part, as he never allowed Padme to be far from his thoughts.  
  
"I know how difficult this is for you, Anakin, but you must do it if you seek revenge  
  
from the Jedi." The Emperor could feel the hesitation radiating off of Anakin's  
  
body.  
  
He was reluctant to let go of his memories of Padmé; her voice; her scent; her soft  
  
brown eyes; her beautiful face. Sensing these thoughts, the Emperor quickly gave  
  
Anakin an image of her beautiful face in pain, images of her body covered in bruises  
  
and injuries. These images forced Anakin to shiver involuntarily and push her far  
  
from his mind.  
  
"Alright, Master. I am ready." Anakin said slowly, his eyes closed in apprehension;  
  
if he learned this, would never be able to see her again? Would she disappear  
  
completely, forever? He didn't want to ever lose her image. He already lost her, was  
  
he strong enough to lose his memories of her as well?  
  
"Anakin, you must be strong now. You must forget you past, and all the people in it.  
  
All you can think about is you, and the power you will gain by listening to me now."  
  
"Master,'" Anakin began reproachfully, " were you reading my thoughts again?"  
  
"Is that a problem, Young One?"  
  
" Normally, I wouldn't mind, but I would like a few moments with my thoughts,  
  
alone."  
  
"I apologize for making you uncomfortable. Since this is such a difficult and  
  
important stage in your training, I'm going to give you the day off from training. Go  
  
back to sleep, wander though the building, find a place to be alone with your  
  
thoughts. Do what ever you would like. Just come back tomorrow at the usual time  
  
for training. And don't worry Young One, I will not read your thoughts." He added,  
  
answering the unspoken question.  
  
"Thank you, Master" said Anakin, once again bowing before his master.  
  
Given a rare permission to explore the building on his own, Anakin wandered  
  
aimlessly through several unfamiliar corridors. After several hours, he found  
  
himself in an area he didn't recognize. As he began to panic, he felt a familiar  
  
feeling. 'Anakin'. Something was calling to him. 'Anakin. Please, Anakin, listen to me.  
  
Please. Help me, Anakin, only you can save me. And only I can save you.' Several  
  
moments later he realized what-or rather who- it was that was calling him. 'No,' he  
  
thought, 'it can't be. She's gone. The Emperor told me so himself. Those damn Jedi  
  
made sure I would never see her again. And what does she mean by 'save you'?' As  
  
he followed this feeling along several unfamiliar hallways, it grew stronger. Finally,  
  
as he stopped outside a thick wooden door, he heard -not felt- someone crying.  
  
"Padmé!" he whispered in amazement. 'But what is she doing here? In a restricted  
  
area, in a locked room?'  
  
"Padmé?" he called through the door. Then he heard a sound he had never thought  
  
he would hear again; Padmé's sweet voice.  
  
"Ani?" she called, her voice a mixture of wonder, awe, tears, and apprehension.  
  
On the other side of the door, Padmé's thoughts were in disarray. How had he  
  
found her? What was he now? What had she done to him?  
  
"Padmé, what are you doing here? Why are you in a locked room?"  
  
When she didn't answer him, he used the force to open the locked door.  
  
What he saw astounded and angered him; his once beautiful wife was barely  
  
recognizable. Her face had lost the youthful innocence and innate calm that he had  
  
fallen in love with, replaced with a look of hopelessness and despair that Anakin had  
  
never imagined possible. The strong, powerful leader had become a scared looking  
  
child; her eyes had lost their sparkle. She looked as though she hadn't laughed in  
  
years, her face held none of the hope that had been there before. Her gorgeous  
  
flowing brown hair had been cut brutally, and now was only shoulder length and tied  
  
painfully at the back of her head. Her beautiful gown had now become a tattered  
  
rag, she looked as though she hadn't eaten in weeks, and her graceful figure had  
  
lost several of its womanly curves, though she still looked beautiful to Anakin.  
  
Padmé was similarily shocked to see Anakin; his once gloriously sun-kissed tousled  
  
blond hair had been viciously cut, his Padawan braid gone forever. The gorgeously  
  
warm blue eyes she had once lost herself in had become orbs of blue ice; looking  
  
into them caused her to shiver involuntarily. His face, once so alive with hope and  
  
youth, now seemed dead and devoid of all emotion. His eyes had lost their glimmer  
  
of mischief, his mouth had lost the cute half smile that had been so familiar to her.  
  
He looked as though it had been months since his last night of good sleep.  
  
"Ani, oh my Ani. What have I done to you?" Padmé cried after several moments of  
  
an unbearable silence.  
  
"What have you done to me?" asked Anakin in confusion. "What do you mean, Mé'?"  
  
"Look at you, Anakin, you changed, and not for the better. And it's all my fault! If I  
  
hadn't fallen in love with you, if I hadn't have given into you, you would still be with  
  
the Jedi. You would still be happy."  
  
"I was never happy with the Jedi! How could you think I would want to be there?  
  
After what they did to you, I could never forgive them. I trusted them, so did you.  
  
And what did they do? They destroyed the only important person in my life."  
  
"Wait a minute, Ani, what are you talking about? Who did they destroy?"  
  
"You."  
  
"What are you talking about? They never did anything to me."  
  
"Then why are you here? How did you get here?"  
  
"It was the Emperor, Ani. He was scared that if you knew I was still alive, you would  
  
look for me, and not give him the help he needs to gain power. Oh, Ani."  
  
She threw herself into Anakin's arms, weeping silently.  
  
"Shh, it's all right now Mé. I'm here, everything's gonna be ok now. Don't worry. I'll  
  
think of something. We'll get you out of here. Why didn't you call me sooner? I  
  
would have been here in a second if I had known that the person I wanted most in  
  
the world was in the same building. Why didn't you call me, Mé'?" Anakin comforted  
  
her as he gently held onto her and rocked her slowly.  
  
"I tried, Ani. I tried so hard. But then I had to put up a shield to protect myself  
  
from the Emperor. Oh, Ani, what are we going to do? He was afraid I would try to  
  
escape, everyone around here knows what I look like. Where can we go? Oh, God, I'm so scared."  
  
The couple comforted one another silently for over an hour, then they began  
  
talking; discussing what had happened following their separation, and planning  
  
Padmé's escape.  
  
Hours later, Anakin realized that he had to leave, or he would face the  
  
consequences from the Emperor.  
  
"I have to leave now, Mé, but I promise, I will come back tomorrow. I will make a  
  
plan. We will get you out of here, no matter what it takes. You can't stay here any  
  
longer."  
  
"Ani," cried Padmé, as Anakin was about to walk out the door. He turned around  
  
quickly. " I love you."  
  
"And I love you, Mé" Answered Anakin, wrapping her once more in his arms.  
  
As he turned to leave for the second time, Padmé could have sworn she saw the  
  
faintest glimmer of the half smile she had thought she would never see again.  
  
She sighed into the empty room, steeling herself to face the Emperor's torment  
  
when he learned that Anakin had found her. Then she realized that now, she could  
  
do, and face anything. She had her Ani back, he was going to protect her, and she  
  
would save him.  
  
The next few hours were agony for the young lovers, both knowing that the other  
  
was within such a close proximity, but also knowing that they may as well be a world  
  
apart for all the good it was doing them.  
  
Padmé spent those hours thinking of Anakin, while he spent them coming up with  
  
the perfect plan. Or, at least the start of the perfect plan. The Jedi. He realized  
  
how wrong he had been, and he needed their help. Now. They were his only chance  
  
for saving Padmé. There was no other options left. This was it.  
  
He would sneak out and find a transport to Coruscant; make is way silently to the  
  
Jedi Temple. There he would find the one person he knew he could trust; Obi- Wan  
  
Kenobi. If that goes well, he might get the council to help him, or at least help  
  
Padmé, if not him.  
  
That night, Anakin slept fitfully, while Padmé slept more restfully than she had in  
  
weeks.  
  
The next morning, Anakin awoke and went to his training with the Emperor.  
  
That night, he snuck out of his sleeping quarters, down the restricted hallways, and  
  
into the forbidden room.  
  
"Oh, Ani, you came. I knew you would."  
  
"Of course Mé, how could I not come? I would not have left you after I promised  
  
to return."  
  
"Ani, please, hold me. Let me know you are real and that I'm not imagining this."  
  
Anakin quickly swept Padmé into a fierce, yet gentle, embrace.  
  
"Padmé, I'm going to have to leave you here again, but I will back within the hour, I  
  
promise."  
  
"Alright, Ani. Please come back safe."  
  
As Anakin pulled out his red lightsaber, he saw Padme visibly shudder at its color.  
  
"I'll be back, Mé'"  
  
"I'll wait here."  
  
With that, Anakin sliced the lock off one of the windows and climbed out of it and  
  
into the snow that covered the ground. Fortunately, Padmé was on the bottom  
  
floor.  
  
"Be careful, Ani." Padme's voice floated down to Anakin.  
  
"I will, Mé. I will.'" Anakin said quietly to himself.  
  
First Chapter done! If you want more, you're going to have to review!! 


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